Cash eases cancelled holiday cottage pain

She had made the reservation back in February for the holiday last month for herself, husband Pete and two friends. A few days prior to the two couples setting off from Newcastle and Sheffield respectively they had received all the details from the owner of the property near Worcester. The reservation had been made via Booking.com’s website, a platform Audrey had often used successfully. For times when things don’t go to plan its customer services should be on hand to offer equivalent or better nearby accommodation.

++ If you’ve been affected by this issue or feel you’ve been a victim of injustice, please contact consumer champion Maisha Frost on maisha.frost@express.co.uk ++;

This time however things did not go so well. “The alternative we were offered was not self-catering and although we did try it and left a message, no one responded,” says Audrey.

After waiting 20 minutes for more help, the group was offered a six-bedroom property in Cheltenham.

“But this was only bookable through Airbnb and bigger so potentially more expensive so we were in a quandary, but we had come so far and did not want to give up,” adds Audrey.

“To register I had to send a photo of my driving licence and of myself. We managed to do this and send bank details. It wasn’t easy though on the phone from a car and then no one could find what I sent or even the property.

“After driving our two cars hundreds of miles we gave up and did the same again to go back home. It was very dispiriting.”

The group had not paid for their accommodation but considered they had had a lot of expenses and no benefit.

When they explained what had gone on to Booking.com it offered them £50.

“We spent more than that on the petrol alone and don’t really think this reflects how difficult our experience was,” Audrey commented when she asked Crusader to take up the matter.

Audrey had done everything that the lodging’s website asks its customers to do and this seemed to be more about the Plan B mechanisms falling short.

“We always try to resolve any issues as quickly and satisfactorily as possible, so that our customers can get back to having a great travel experience,” Booking.com states, explaining refund levels are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Having reviewed Audrey’s problem it then offered £300 which has been accepted by the group as fair.

“This is not the kind of experience we want for our customers, we have apologised for the inconvenience,” the company added.